Imbeau-Dulac, Abel combine for synchro gold at Canada Cup diving Grand Prix

CALGARY — Francois Imbeau-Dulac and Jennifer Abel were golden on home soil, winning the mixed three-metre synchro final on Sunday at Canada Cup FINA Diving Grand Prix.

The Canadians won by a large margin with a score of 304.59. The next best was 275.10 set by Britain’s Matthew Dixon and Scarlett Mew Jenson.

“I’m very satisfied with the results I mean it was not our best competition but it was good enough for today,” said Imbeau-Dulac.

Abel also won gold in the women’s three-metre synchro, partnered with Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu. Fellow Canadians Mia Vallee and Olivia Chamandy had a tough day in that event, finishing sixth.

Despite the success Abel and Imbeau-Dulac have had as a team, Abel said the duo doesn’t train together much.

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“It’s always fun to be the champion of the competition when it’s in front of your own crowd,” said Abel. “Francois and I don’t really train together and that is why we are even more satisfied because we know we can put our dives together when it counts.

“It’s always fun to compete with him and I always learn from him.”

Imbeau-Dulac echoed Abel saying she makes competition easier.

“For us we know that no matter what happens we’re going to be able to do our dives,” said Imbeau-Dulac. “We have a lot of confidence in each other.”

Abel felt the mixed synchro competition was more challenging than usual, since it was the first event of the day and she usually has solo events beforehand to help her prepare.

The duo credits team chemistry and trust to their success in competitions together.

“We just trust and follow each other and we just keep it simple,” said Abel. “We get along really well and we’ve known each other for many years so that helps a lot.”

Added Imbeau-Dulac: “When we’re on the board we do not second guess ourselves.”

In the men’s 10-metre synchro final, Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Vincent Riendeau took second place. Ethan Pitman and Laurent Gosselin-Paradis were right behind them in third, taking home the bronze.

Randal Willars and Diego Balleza from Mexico won the gold medal.

In the men’s open three-metre final, Canadians Philippe Gagne and Imbeau-Dulac came up short. Gagne finished fifth and Imbeau-Dulac finished sixth. Bowen Huang from China rose above the rest winning the gold medal.

In the women’s open platform finals, Canadian and Calgary native Caeli McKay just barely missed out on a gold medal, settling for silver. Yijin Xu from China captured the gold medal.

Ian Gustafson, The Canadian Press